Leif made the switch this week. You know: the switch to walking.
He took his first steps in January. I didn't see them; I was teaching Sunday School and he was with his beloved Nan. But he was happy enough to repeat the feat given marshmallows as an incentive.
After that, "walking" became a game Leif and Scott would play almost every night while I made dinner. But Leif would try to get away with as little walking as possible. He would crawl to Scott, then climb up his pant legs and try to reach the marshmallows from the safety of that grip. It usually worked so he didn't have much reason to improve.
The cutest thing about the process this time was watching the way Sven and Carl responded to Leif's attempts. Carl liked to playing "walking", too and would offer whatever bits of snack might tempt our little toddler. We would all laugh whenever Leif clawed up Carl's pants; it seemed like they would both knock over! As Leif got better, Sven got excited about it, too. Whenever I was absent for a step, Sven would come get my attention. "Leif walked!" he would say. One time he even came all the way upstairs to find me because Leif had taken a step in the kitchen.
And now, after a month and a half of reluctant practice, Leif has finally decided that walking is the way to go. He still doesn't want to walk long distances but he gets there anyway by taking pit stops at furniture and people. It won't be long before he discards crawling entirely.
And then he'll be running.
He took his first steps in January. I didn't see them; I was teaching Sunday School and he was with his beloved Nan. But he was happy enough to repeat the feat given marshmallows as an incentive. After that, "walking" became a game Leif and Scott would play almost every night while I made dinner. But Leif would try to get away with as little walking as possible. He would crawl to Scott, then climb up his pant legs and try to reach the marshmallows from the safety of that grip. It usually worked so he didn't have much reason to improve.
The cutest thing about the process this time was watching the way Sven and Carl responded to Leif's attempts. Carl liked to playing "walking", too and would offer whatever bits of snack might tempt our little toddler. We would all laugh whenever Leif clawed up Carl's pants; it seemed like they would both knock over! As Leif got better, Sven got excited about it, too. Whenever I was absent for a step, Sven would come get my attention. "Leif walked!" he would say. One time he even came all the way upstairs to find me because Leif had taken a step in the kitchen.
And now, after a month and a half of reluctant practice, Leif has finally decided that walking is the way to go. He still doesn't want to walk long distances but he gets there anyway by taking pit stops at furniture and people. It won't be long before he discards crawling entirely.
And then he'll be running.
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